The assignee of the instant application, Paper Machinery Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin U.S.A. is the manufacturer of paper cup making machines used to make a variety of cups and containers. A typical cup machine for making paper cups, for instance, includes a turret having a plurality of mandrels about which the containers are formed. The turret sequentially rotates the mandrels into cooperation with a variety of workstations where numerous cup forming procedures occur.
In an exemplary procedure, a circular bottom blank is cut out at one workstation and attached to the end of a mandrel by a vacuum applied through the mandrel. During this procedure, the outside edge or lip of the bottom blank is folded downwardly. At a subsequent workstation, a sidewall blank is wrapped around the mandrel. The sidewall blank is heated and sealed along an overlapped side seam which runs generally longitudinal along the side of the cup. Typically, a paperboard is coated with a thermoplastic material such as polyethylene or a solid plastic sheet can be used, so the bottom and sidewall blanks may be heated and sealed together. In some applications, the sidewall blank includes a flap extending beyond the lip of the bottom blank, and this flap is bent over the lip. At a bottom finishing station, the flap is pressed against the lip from an inside recessed area of the bottom of the cup. By heating the polyethylene and firmly pressing the sidewall, sidewall flap, and bottom flap lid together, a bottom seal is formed and the cup is provided with a sturdy bottom region having a recessed area. There may also be other work stations where various other additional cup forming procedures are carried out. For example, one station may be used to provide a curl at the top or rim of the cup to provide a more functional drinking container and a better appearance.
The overlapped side seam is the most difficult area of the rim on a paper cup to form, because of the double layer of paper. It is very important to form the total rim consistent to match the plastic lid fit. At this point on the rim, two sealed together thicknesses of paper have four times the vertical strength of a single layer of paper. The outer layer of paper has to stretch, and the inner layer of paper compress to conform to a one paper layer rim around the rest of the rim. This formation causes shear to occur between the two layers leaving the outer layers split from the inner layer. The outer layer then bulges outwards and frays the very tip of the paper, separating the paper fibers within the outer layer. This affects the appearance and lid fit of the cup and the cup becomes commercially unacceptable. This distorted rim condition is commonly called flagging, as depicted at F in FIG. 1. To correct the rim forming of the double seam, two conditions need to be improved. The column strength of the overlapped paper and the shear between the two paper layers needs to be markedly reduced.
Accordingly, it is desirable to eliminate the flagging that occurs in the formation of the overlapped side seam on the rim of the cup so as to provide a smooth, uniform, aesthetic rim configuration which will ensure proper fit with a cooperating lid.